The present invention relates to locking devices, and particularly to locking devices useful for locking a motorcycle, bicycle or other relatively movable object to a fixed object.
The present locking devices of this type usually include a shackle chain for enclosing a part of the movable object and a part of the fixed object, and a lock for locking the shackle chain, when in its enclosing position to thereby attach the movable object to the fixed object when the lock is in its locked condition, or for releasing the shackle chain to permit detachment of the movable object from the fixed object when the lock is in its released condition. Locks of this type are relatively inconvenient to use and to carry when not in use. Moreover, since a chain is as strong as its weakest link, these types of locking devices are relatively easy to break by cutting or by applying brute force.
Locking devices including rigid shackles of U-shaped configuration have also been used, in which the lock is applied to the open ends of the U-shaped shackle, but in such types of locking devices the legs of the shackle must be closely spaced to permit the use of relatively small locks, and therefore they are extremely limited as to the dimensions of the movable object (e.g., motorcycle wheel) to be enclosed by the shackle for fixing the motorcycle wheel to the fixed object.